National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has arrested a Spain-based businessman, 50-year-old Francis Akajiobi, at the departure hall of terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja Lagos, after parcels of cocaine weighing 1.20 kilogrammes were discovered in his pair of sandals while attempting to board his Royal Air Maroc flight to Madrid, Spain.
The NDLEA said the two parcels of cocaine were concealed in the soles of a pair of black sandals Akajiobi was wearing to board his flight when NDLEA operatives intercepted him on Thursday July 25, 2024.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said during his preliminary interview, the suspect claimed the consignment was delivered to him at a bar in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and was to deliver it to his friend and neighbour in Spain for a fee of €5,000 upon successful delivery to the recipient.
In a another development, a suspect: Makinde Sodiq Lekan has been arrested in connection with the seizure of 99 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 51.60kg that arrived the SAHCO Imports shed of the Lagos airport on a Turkish Airlines flight from Canada via Istanbul, Turkey.
Meanwhile, operatives of a Special Operations Unit of the NDLEA, targeting syndicates that specialise in shipping large consignments of opioids into neighbouring countries from where they attempt smuggling them into Nigeria in smaller quantities through transport companies, have arrested one of the kingpins, Chukwuemaka Obodozie.
He was arrested in the early hours of Sunday, July 21, at Cele bus stop along Oshodi-Apapa express road, Lagos, with 100,000 tablets of tramadol 225mg loaded in two bags shortly after his arrival from Ghana via one of the transport companies plying the Lagos-Ghana route.
The NDLEA said the intelligence-led operation followed five months of surveillance around Chukwuemeka.
Also, no fewer than 17 suspects were arrested on Friday July 26, when NDLEA operatives raided the Owena forest in Oriade LGA, Osun State, where they destroyed 31,250 kilograms of cannabis on 12.5 hectares of farmland, while 84kg of processed cannabis sativa was recovered along with a single barrel Dane gun.
Those arrested include: Peter Osuya, 51; Zebron Ode, 46; Dogo Reuben Matthew, 35; Isaac Terna; Joseph David Lawrence, 27; Ugochukwu Victory, 24; Olamilekan Abolarin, 26; Dele Ayibo, 44; Ojo Moses, 21; Nini Ayila, 27; Msughve Clement, 23; Chuks Ogeneku, 40; Dada Aribo, 20; Uche Endurance, 30; Patrick Agba, 21; Osakwe Kennedy, 45; and Ojo Babatunde, 29.
